The Coffee House

[Gary A.]

Interestingly enough. Gary had just started an 18 hour Sous Vide roast.

 

[snowbear114 46]

We'll see. I have a pack of hot dogs I'll try, first.

 

[vintagesnaps]

On Top Chef somebody did a tri tip. I only caught part of the show during intermission of the hockey game, and the last 10 minutes when they said the magic word - tri tip!

Guess I need a couple of brushes, realized all I seem to have are rounds (and they're not pointed anymore if they ever were!). Good excuse to shop for art supplies.

 

[smoke665]

I had a few art classes in high school and the typical art appreciation classes in college. Picked up a couple electives in multiple media and mechanical drawing, but the one course that opened my eyes to detail was advanced industrial process 1 & 2. We were given items that we had to measure and draw to exacting standards then duplicate that item from our print. Started off simple involving metal work, & machine work. The final piece which I still have today was an aluminum anvil. We had to do the blueprints, construct a wood mold, sand cast the aluminum anvil, then finish the surface to a mirror finish. We were graded by how close our anvil matched the original. Being off a few thousands of an inch could cause you to fail the course, meaning you had to calculate the waste list in finishing. My first couple of attempts went back into the pot.

 

[davidharmier60]

Another day that began at 4am
And I found out yesterday that I am on the job Monday as well. So no partying on Sunday night.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G890A using Tapatalk

 

[smoke665]

We'll see. I have a pack of hot dogs I'll try, first.

I hope they are at least the premium ones!

 

[smoke665]

Up before 5 this morning, starting to feel like Dave. After the heavy dose of steroids yesterday, last night was restless. Never able to drift into a deep sleep, just always on the edge, always waking up. However the price is a small one to pay for the ability to breathe. Hadn't realized how much it had become restricted, over the past 3 weeks. Still have a ways to go but I'll take what I get.

On the flip side being up early has allowed me to experiment with some fresh roast coffee sent by my "alter ego" @Gary A. With who I've shared some spirited political debates of late. I suspect that if he and I were to put our minds to it in Washington, we could show politicians how easy it is to reach across lines to find common ground. Although I'm afraid he has created a monster by making it very hard to go back to the grocery shelf brands. My wife has now declared that we will be ordering beans and roasting our own in the future once we get back in February. Very devious by Gary swaying my wife as an ally! LOL

 

[snowbear114 46]

I had a few art classes in high school and the typical art appreciation classes in college. Picked up a couple electives in multiple media and mechanical drawing, but the one course that opened my eyes to detail was advanced industrial process 1 & 2. We were given items that we had to measure and draw to exacting standards then duplicate that item from our print. Started off simple involving metal work, & machine work. The final piece which I still have today was an aluminum anvil. We had to do the blueprints, construct a wood mold, sand cast the aluminum anvil, then finish the surface to a mirror finish. We were graded by how close our anvil matched the original. Being off a few thousands of an inch could cause you to fail the course, meaning you had to calculate the waste list in finishing. My first couple of attempts went back into the pot.

Sounds like fun.

I had two semesters of mechanical drawing in college; one being in support of the electronics technology program I was in. We ultimately had to copy a schematic (25 components, minimum with at least one integrated circuit or two transistors), label components with mil specs, design a printed circuit board without using jumper wires (AKA zero ohm resistors), make the board, and put the thing together. Of course, this was in the "old days" of pencil and paper and the most complicated boards were double-sided - no multi-layered wafers, like today. The boards were UV sensitive, so it was like making photo prints: draw the copper side of the board at 1:1, make a negative using Mylar, tape and adhesive "dots" (overlay the drawing), burnish, expose the board with the negative overlaid, etch, and drill.

 

[JonA_CT]

Up before 5 this morning, starting to feel like Dave. After the heavy dose of steroids yesterday, last night was restless. Never able to drift into a deep sleep, just always on the edge, always waking up. However the price is a small one to pay for the ability to breathe. Hadn't realized how much it had become restricted, over the past 3 weeks. Still have a ways to go but I'll take what I get.

On the flip side being up early has allowed me to experiment with some fresh roast coffee sent by my "alter ego" @Gary A. With who I've shared some spirited political debates of late. I suspect that if he and I were to put our minds to it in Washington, we could show politicians how easy it is to reach across lines to find common ground. Although I'm afraid he has created a monster by making it very hard to go back to the grocery shelf brands. My wife has now declared that we will be ordering beans and roasting our own in the future once we get back in February. Very devious by Gary swaying my wife as an ally! LOL

So much good stuff in this post. First, everyone should roast their own coffee (and brew their own beer). My initial set-up cost line $30, and took me maybe 45 minutes to rig together. I have easily saved that much money (three or four fold probably) over the year I’ve been roasting.

I also love your comment about finding common ground. My best golf bud thinks very differently than I do, and in the recent political climate, some of our mutual friends have pushed him away. He and I have similar discussions and always end with a beer and a handshake. We rarely agree, but we understand each other well, and I think it’s made my thinking more nuanced as a result.

 

[smoke665]

@snowbear I loved working on the table, still have one complete with everything needed in my shop. I seem to think better on paper. I spent 9 years as VP of a company designing and building prefabricated steel feed mills that were shipped all over the world. Our engineering department by that time was all CAD, which I reluctantly learned to use, but most times I would use a table in my office to make preliminary sketches based on customer requirements. Really loved this job, probably one of the most satisfying I've ever had (except for the constant travel). Unfortunately the CEO/President and owner and I were having irreconcilable differences of opinions on company direction, so we parted on friendly terms. It took a few more years but as I predicted would happen he eventually went bankrupt. Sad really because it was a fabulous company at one time.

 

[smoke665]

We rarely agree, but we understand each other well, and I think it’s made my thinking more nuanced as a result.

Learned long ago that there are different opinions on just about everything, and that I don't have to agree with someone, but I do try hard to be respectful of their right to that opinion. Maybe I'm lucky but I've never met someone with whom I didn't find some common ground as long as the lines of communication remains open.

 

[smoke665]

It's whats for breakfast. My favorite thanks to my dear wife, large flaky biscuits smothered in her fantastic sausage and gravy. Think I'm in heaven.

 

[snowbear114 46]

@snowbear I loved working on the table, still have one complete with everything needed in my shop. I seem to think better on paper. I spent 9 years as VP of a company designing and building prefabricated steel feed mills that were shipped all over the world. Our engineering department by that time was all CAD, which I reluctantly learned to use, but most times I would use a table in my office to make preliminary sketches based on customer requirements. Really loved this job, probably one of the most satisfying I've ever had (except for the constant travel). Unfortunately the CEO/President and owner and I were having irreconcilable differences of opinions on company direction, so we parted on friendly terms. It took a few more years but as I predicted would happen he eventually went bankrupt. Sad really because it was a fabulous company at one time.

Paper - I still use a pad and pen at meetings, even short ones. I never quite got the hang of taking notes on a laptop, though I've gotten to the point I can write Python without coding sheets. I have to really track my hours, so I scribble what I've done and how long I've worked on it on a wall calendar that sits on the desk (838 map - 2, battalion maps - 4, AtoN script - 2). I'm the reason we will never truly be a paperless society.

 

[JonA_CT]

I use paper and pencil/pen/sharpie marker whatever constantly, even at school.

I do most of my teaching with a document camera, standard copy paper, and sharpies. It isn't that I don't know how to use the technology I have (promethean board), but I can face my students when I'm using the document camera, and it feels more personal for them to see me write/model in a notebook, especially because that's what they'll do when I'm done teaching.

I tried using OneNote for meeting notes...just didn't work for me. I have a notebook that has notes from all of my meetings this year, and I find everything in it so much easier than I did in OneNote.

 

[Gary A.]

Up before 5 this morning, starting to feel like Dave. After the heavy dose of steroids yesterday, last night was restless. Never able to drift into a deep sleep, just always on the edge, always waking up. However the price is a small one to pay for the ability to breathe. Hadn't realized how much it had become restricted, over the past 3 weeks. Still have a ways to go but I'll take what I get.

On the flip side being up early has allowed me to experiment with some fresh roast coffee sent by my "alter ego" @Gary A. With who I've shared some spirited political debates of late. I suspect that if he and I were to put our minds to it in Washington, we could show politicians how easy it is to reach across lines to find common ground. Although I'm afraid he has created a monster by making it very hard to go back to the grocery shelf brands. My wife has now declared that we will be ordering beans and roasting our own in the future once we get back in February. Very devious by Gary swaying my wife as an ally! LOL

@ smoke665: Gary doesn't know about spirited debates. They seemed pretty much and overwhelmingly one sided.